When the video reached move 15, I stopped it and tried to guess the right answer. I found two.

First, I looked at d6, and found that after the queen takes the knight, I get a rook for knight and pawn. (If black plays Ra7 instead, I picked Re1, which is ok, but not as good as the best reply, Bc6!, getting ready for Re1 and major play against the e5 pawn.)

Then I considered the Nxd4 line, and thought that looked promising, even though I made the mistake of Re1+.

When I unpaused the video and saw Melik play Nxd4, I was happy I at least considered it. So, I was surprised when I then ran the position through Houdini. It gives Nxd4 as the 4th/5th best move, a full half-pawn behind the top 3-4. Houdini likes Qd3, d6, Be4, and Re1 more than Nxd4.

I wonder if the thrill of "getting away with" the sacrifice tempts human players to do it.

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My Memorable Games: Young Shanky!

In the last round of the 2008 National Open in Las Vegas, GM Khachiyan looked across his board at a young, talented FIDE Master -- and he knew he was in for a fight! As Melik explains, he was committed from the beginning to take his time, find all the right moves, and punish his young opponent for trying to surprise him with a sharp, but slightly dubious variation of the Najdorf. What happened in the end? Watch and find out...

Melik began playing chess at the age of 8, won the Baku Junior Championship two years later and became a Soviet Candidate Master two years after that. He began coaching early in his career and has brought up three Junior World Champions (among them Levon Aronian). In 2001, he immigrated to the US, where he qualified to play in the U.S. Championship several times. He earned his Grandmaster title in 2006.

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